How Long Does Anger Counseling Take?

Learn how long you need to be in anger counseling to see results from anger management expert Dr. J. Ryan Fuller in this Howcast video.

Transcript

Another frequently asked question regarding anger management is how long it will take. Now, this where there is particularly good news. So, there's scientific evidence, in fact, that anger management can be effective with as few as eight sessions. Now with that said, most of those are done within very specific populations, and other studies have indicated 12 sessions. In one of the studies I ran, we even took the advice of some previous researchers and said, let's see we can extend it by building the dose, and see if we can get a stronger effect, and we went up to 16 sessions. So, we're really looking at 8 to 16 sessions have been shown to be effective. And some of these had follow-up studies going up to 18 months. Showing that it's not just some short-term game, but in fact, people are either practicing these skills repeatedly, and still benefiting 18 months later. Or they've intervened in ways that have become sort of part of their lifestyle, where the anger management techniques have lasted and improved symptom reduction, even 18 months out. So, with relative short investment of time, there is a high degree of likelihood that the person, especially if they're motivated, can in fact improve their anger symptoms in a short amount of time.